the earliest title winner in Formula 1 history<\/a>, eclipsing even Red Bull Racing\u2019s almost perfect 2023 season.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s an event which still holds special relevance for us,\u201d McLaren boss Andrea Stella said. \u201cWhile competition remains close with multiple teams contending for victories, we remain focused on own performance and feel well prepared for the weekend ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a track that will suit McLaren better than Monza, with the set-up compromise required between the long straights and the twisty middle sector giving the team much more room to play with the strengths of its car.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s one driver who will almost certainly threaten to rain on McLaren\u2019s coronation day.<\/p>\n
Piastri praised for pit blunder reaction | 02:00<\/p>\n
CAN CHARLES LECLERC AVENGE FOUR YEARS OF PAIN?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a strong argument to make that Charles Leclerc is the fastest driver in Formula 1 today.<\/p>\n
The Monegasque has 27 pole positions, putting him 11th on the list of the sport\u2019s best qualifiers.<\/p>\n
Four of those poles were scored in Baku.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something that just clicks for Leclerc around the Azerbaijani capital.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a track the demands a set-up compromise for the super-long front straight and the twisty middle sector. The less downforce applied, the faster the lap time, but that makes the car skittish through the plentiful slow corners. A driver not totally at ease with that set-up will lack the confidence to put the power down, costing precious lap time.<\/p>\n
Leclerc, though, has never looked anything other than supremely at one with this track no matter the quality of his machinery.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s something that baffles even him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said last year when asked why he\u2019s so consistently good in Baku. \u201cI don\u2019t really have a strong answer to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess it just goes with my driving style very naturally.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time you have to work a lot to try and gain lap time, but I just feel good with the rhythm of this track for some reason, and that makes it a particularly good track for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Baku is representative of Leclerc in more ways than one.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s extremely quick here, with more poles in Azerbaijan than at any other track.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s also failed to convert any of those poles to victory. He\u2019s never won in Baku.<\/p>\n
That bizarre statistic extends even to the sprint in 2021, for which he also took pole but then failed to claim victory.<\/p>\n
His Baku record over the last four year reads: fourth, DNF, third, second.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a very Leclerc sort of statistic.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s converted just five of his 27 pole positions into wins. He\u2019s won just one of his last 16 starts from P1.<\/p>\n
This is the strong argument for Leclerc being the fastest driver in F1. Over a single lap he\u2019s able to mask his car\u2019s shortcomings, pushing his machinery to its limit. But it\u2019s much harder to work around those limitations over a grand prix distance. Inevitably he fades to a position more reflective of his car.<\/p>\n
That truth is at its most painful in Baku, where he\u2019s been so, so fast over the years.<\/p>\n
Last year he got close. His Ferrari was the fastest race car, but Piastri\u2019s spectacular dive-bomb and iron-willed defensive drive ensured that speed couldn\u2019t be flexed.<\/p>\n
Leclerc is almost guaranteed to be a pole contender this weekend. Will this be the year he finally converts?<\/p>\n
Oscar & Leclerc laugh after absurd move | 00:54<\/p>\n
WILL McLAREN TAKE ITS HANDS OFF THE WHEEL OF THE TITLE FIGHT?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something familiar about the context of McLaren\u2019s arrival in Baku.<\/p>\n
This time last year conversation was dominated by a controversial call regarding the so-called papaya rules \u2014 the policies governing how Piastri and Norris raced each other.<\/p>\n
McLaren was slowly coming to the conclusion that Norris had to be backed as the number one driver to boost his slim hopes of overhauling Verstappen for the championship, and in Baku the team revealed it would give the Briton priority in certain situations.<\/p>\n
Ironically Piastri ended up dominating the weekend, with Norris at one stage deployed to slow down Sergio P\u00e9rez to help his teammate win the race.<\/p>\n
The context of this year\u2019s race is remarkably similar.<\/p>\n
The conversation is being dominated by a controversial call regarding those same papaya rules, the background being the team\u2019s decision to force Piastri to hand second place back to Norris after the Briton suffered a slow pit stop late in the race.<\/p>\n
The background to that moment is McLaren wanting to play as neutral a hand as possible.<\/p>\n
Ironically it ended up looking interventionist and too keen to micromanage a championship battle already accused of lacking emotion.<\/p>\n
Both drivers played down any controversy after the race, and speaking in Baku, Piastri was keen to keep the incident in his rear-view mirrors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had good discussions with the team,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously it was a highly talked about moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of discussions, clarified a lot of things, and we know how we\u2019re going to go racing going forward, which is the most important thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happened is done, and I\u2019m excited to go racing again.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he appeared to hint that post-Italy debrief had led the team to adopt less of an interventionist approach to similar situations.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the team would be more hands off once the constructors championship is sealed, Piastri said: \u201cNot necessarily because of the constructors championship, but I think, again, we\u2019ve had a lot of discussions about how we want to go racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of that is to stay for us because if we give out that information, then we become very easy targets to pick off because everyone knows what we\u2019re going to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all very aligned with all of us, but it stays in-house.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s highly unlikely McLaren will find itself in the same situation again, the fact Piastri and Norris are so closely matched at the front of the field means it\u2019s inevitable their races and strategies will intersect again.<\/p>\n
For the most part McLaren has allowed its drives free rein, though with some clear guardrails to maintain what it believes constitute racing fairness.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen how \u2014 or whether \u2014 the concept of \u2018fair\u2019 has been tweaked since Italy.<\/p>\n
But Piastri was crystal clear about one thing.<\/p>\n
After days of speculation among punters that McLaren is favouring Norris\u2019s title bid, Piastri put his position beyond doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have enough freedom to control our own destiny in the championship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Piastri forced to give second place up | 01:18<\/p>\n
CAN RED BULL RACING\u2019S REVIVAL CONTINUE?<\/p>\n
There was considerable optimism at Red Bull Racing after Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix, but it wasn\u2019t simply about the result.<\/p>\n
The fact the Dutchman had been able to dominate Monza at all one year after the team flopped at the same circuit \u2014 and amid a year that\u2019s badly underperforming relative to expectations \u2014 represented a marked upturn in form.<\/p>\n
Some in the team believed that upturn isn\u2019t circumstantial.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp until now we\u2019ve had a lot of races where we were just shooting left and right a little bit with the set-up of the car,\u201d Verstappen said. \u201cThey were quite extreme changes, which shows that we were not in control. We were not fully understanding what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Laurent [Mekies, new team principal] having an engineering background, he\u2019s asking the right questions to the engineers \u2014 commonsense questions \u2014 so I think that works really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko was of the same opinion.<\/p>\n
The subtext was clear: the team is thriving in the post-Christian Horner era.<\/p>\n
Undoubtedly the change in management has had an effect. Mekies is bringing a different approach to preparing for each weekend. Given Red Bull Racing has so often found itself boxed into a set-up corner, having an engineer at the helm of the team is sure to pay dividends.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s a stretch to say the substitution of a single figure can turn around a thousand-strong team and an intricately complex car, never mind in less than two months.<\/p>\n
In Monza, for example, the team benefited from development choices set in motion with Horner in the chair immediately after last year\u2019s race. Mekies\u2019s team made the most of those decisions on the day, but the foundations were laid.<\/p>\n
In that case, a question presents itself: has the team really turned a corner, or is it a happy coincidence that Mekies has enjoyed generally stronger results since taking the top job?<\/p>\n
Azerbaijan, while an extreme circuit and something of an outlier, is a more complicated challenge than Monza, which is all about straight-line speed.<\/p>\n
McLaren, for example, with what\u2019s been a far more adaptable, usable car this year, will have a lot more room to play in the grey area between setting up for a speedway and setting up for a traditional street track.<\/p>\n
Expecting another Verstappen rout would be folly. But if the Dutchman can interrupt McLaren\u2019s weekend, it would be a sign of success.<\/p>\n
But Marko appears to be aiming higher than that.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Baku, the fast circuits, I\u2019m very optimistic,\u201d he told Autosport, but he notably added: \u201cI am hopeful for Singapore, the only race we didn\u2019t win [with Verstappen so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally on slow circuits [we struggle], but I believe now everything is possible in this period.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps this is a two-week challenge, then. After going seven races with just one podium finish, if Verstappen can end the Singapore Grand Prix with four podiums on the bounce, maybe we can say Red Bull Racing really is back \u2014 and by then Mekies might feel a little more comfortable in the hot seat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s still a third of the Formula 1 season to run, but the final eight rounds will rush…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[944,13273,1724,64,63,689,961,102407,19098,31300,13275,1199,18241,2055,102398,59961,102408,102415,102409,102411,30767,102391,2057,98804,817,813,816,102414,2105,102392,4405,102405,102410,102416,102400,2328,35551,1737,21772,102406,41706,5120,825,18268,102403,677,102413,102396,2119,36328,102389,102412,102404,16180,78374,97712,2072,85990,102390,100041,88562,102394,3595,85,52474,102401,28099,102395,31283,102399,13773,102393,21760,73207,102402,102397,97713,12000],"class_list":["post-152962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-andrea-stella","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-azerbaijan","tag-back-to-back-constructors-championships","tag-burning-questions","tag-championship-battle","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-christian-horner","tag-clive-rose","tag-constructors-championship","tag-constructors-championship-table","tag-constructors-title","tag-controversial-call","tag-coronation-day","tag-development-choices","tag-earliest-title-winner","tag-engineering-background","tag-epic-stoush","tag-europe","tag-extreme-changes","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-gain-lap-time","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-grand-prix-distance","tag-helmut-marko","tag-historic-british-marque","tag-holds-special-relevance","tag-interventionist-approach","tag-iron-willed-defensive-drive","tag-italy","tag-kevin-magnussen","tag-lando-norris","tag-lap-time","tag-looms-barley","tag-match-point","tag-matt","tag-max-verstappen","tag-motorsport-adviser","tag-multiple-teams","tag-oceania","tag-oscar-leclerc","tag-papaya-rules","tag-pit-talk","tag-podium-finish","tag-pole-contender","tag-pole-positions","tag-question-presents","tag-race-car","tag-race-victory","tag-reverse-grid-races","tag-sergio-perez","tag-set-up-compromise","tag-set-up-corner","tag-shorter-grands-prix","tag-slow-pit-stop","tag-so-called-papaya-rules","tag-southern-europe","tag-sports","tag-stefano-domenicali","tag-stop-debacle","tag-straight-line-speed","tag-talks-team","tag-team-orders","tag-team-orders-drama","tag-team-principal","tag-title-destiny","tag-title-fight","tag-title-protagonists","tag-traditional-street-track","tag-unfinished-business","tag-weekend-format","tag-western-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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